Bled, Upper Carniola Region, Slovenia

Tourist Industry | Transport

🇸🇮 Bled is a town on Lake Bled in the Upper Carniolan region of north-western Slovenia. It is the administrative seat of the Municipality of Bled. It is most notable as a popular tourist destination in the Upper Carniola region and in Slovenia as whole, attracting visitors from abroad too.

Today's town began to form in the mid 19th century from the villages of Grad, Mlino, Rečica, Zagorice, and Želeče, which were encircling the lake. At that time, farmers started to sell the land along the eastern lake shore to wealthy individuals for their villas, and the villages of Grad, Zagorice, and Želeče began to merge. Bled was officially recognised as a town in 1960.

Bled is located on the southern foot of the Karawanks mountain range near the border with Austria, about 50 km (31 mi) north-west of the national capital of Ljubljana. South of Lake Bled are the densely forested Pokljuka and Jelovica plateaus and the easternmost parts of the Julian Alps, where the Sava Bohinjka river and the parallel Bohinj Railway lead to the Bohinj basin, Lake Bohinj, and the Triglav massif.

A number of rises (Grad 599 m, Straža 646 m, Kozarca 558 m, Osojnica 756 m, and Ravnica 729 m) separate the localities of Bled around the lake, the former villages of Grad, Mlino, Rečica, Zagorice, and Želeče.

The lake is 2.12 km (1.32 mi) long and 0.5 to 1 kilometre (0.31 to 0.62 mi) wide. In summer, the surface water reaches 25 °C (77 °F) and retains a temperature up to 18 °C (64 °F) until autumn. As such, it is suitable for swimming. During colder winters, the entire lake freezes and can be used for ice skating; the island can then be reached on foot.

There is a thermal spring (23 °C or 73 °F) near the lake, next to the Bled Fault. Its water is used in indoor pools in two hotels.

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Tourist Industry Bled is known for the glacial Lake Bled, which makes it a major tourist attraction. Perched on a rock overlooking the lake is the iconic Bled Castle. The town is also known in Slovenia for its vanilla and cream pastry (kremšnita, kremna rezina).

Naturopath Arnold Rikli (1823–1906) from Switzerland contributed significantly to the development of Bled as a health resort in the second half of the 19th century. Due to its mild climate, Bled has been visited by aristocratic guests from all across the world. Today it is an important convention centre and tourist resort, offering a wide range of sports activities (golf, fishing, and horseback riding). It is a starting point for mountain treks and hikes, especially within nearby Triglav National Park.

A small island in the middle of the lake is home to the Assumption of Mary Pilgrimage Church; visitors frequently ring its bell, due to an old legend claiming it provides good luck.

Human traces from prehistory have been found on the island. Before the church was built, there was a temple consecrated to Živa, the Slavic goddess of love and fertility. One can get to the island on a traditional flat-bottomed wooden boat (pletna), part of a fixed fleet of 23 boats to protect the river's cleanliness, run by a family owned business since the 18th century. The island on Lake Bled has 99 steps. A local tradition at weddings is for the husband to carry his new bride up these steps, during which the bride must remain silent.

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Transport The town is served by Lesce-Bled Airport. Slovenia's biggest international airport Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport is 34 road km away. Bled Jezero railway station is located above the west coast of Lake Bled.

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Ljubljana Time 
Ljubljana Time
Image: Adobe Stock xbrchx #116543647

Bled has a population of over 8,171 people. Bled also forms part of the wider Upper Carniola Region which has a population of over 300,000 people. Bled is situated near Kranj.

Twin Towns, Sister Cities Bled has links with:

🇮🇹 Brixen, Italy 🇮🇹 Doberdò del Lago, Italy 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Henley on Thames, England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Henley-on-Thames, England 🇦🇹 Velden am Wörther See, Austria 🇨🇳 Yangshuo, China
Text Atribution: Wikipedia Text under CC-BY-SA license

Antipodal to Bled is: -165.892,-46.367

Locations Near: Bled 14.1085,46.3667

🇸🇮 Kranj 14.367,46.233 d: 24.8  

🇦🇹 Klagenfurt 14.308,46.624 d: 32.4  

🇦🇹 Villach 13.85,46.617 d: 34.1  

🇸🇮 Ljubljana 14.523,46.07 d: 45.9  

🇸🇮 Postojna 14.214,45.776 d: 66.2  

🇸🇮 Nova Gorica 13.633,45.95 d: 59  

🇮🇹 Gorizia 13.617,45.933 d: 61.3  

🇦🇹 Spittal an der Drau 13.483,46.783 d: 66.6  

🇮🇹 Trieste 13.767,45.651 d: 83.9  

🇸🇮 Koper 13.733,45.55 d: 95.3  

Antipodal to: Bled -165.892,-46.367

🇹🇴 Nuku'alofa -175.216,-21.136 d: 17085  

🇦🇸 Pago Pago -170.701,-14.279 d: 16419  

🇼🇸 Apia -171.76,-13.833 d: 16356.1  

🇵🇫 Papeete -149.566,-17.537 d: 16474.7  

🇺🇸 Hilo -155.089,19.725 d: 12586  

🇺🇸 Maui -156.446,20.72 d: 12495  

🇺🇸 Maui County -156.617,20.868 d: 12480.8  

🇺🇸 Wailuku -156.505,20.894 d: 12476.5  

🇺🇸 Kahului -156.466,20.891 d: 12476.3  

🇺🇸 Honolulu -157.85,21.3 d: 12447.4  

Bing Map

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